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Oh, Now Why the Concern?	By : jinx1764 Category: G through L > Labyrinth Views: 11163 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I don't own Labyrinth, don't make any money, this is a work of fanfiction.

Chapter List
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Thank you, dear readers, for all the encouraging reviews and comments! I love being back and I'd forgotten how much I loved this fic. This chapter feels more like I'm back in character. Things are flowing stronger and I feel really good about the entire fic. Jareth is always so much fun to write. Really, one of my fav characters to play with. These chapters may end up being shorter, but I'm writing them as I feel them, so we'll see. Enjoy!
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Sarah stood just out of reach, facing away from him. He stretched his arm as far as possible, feeling his muscles ache, his legs and body, however, refused to obey his command. "Sarah! Wait!"
Silver light sparkled over her long hair, igniting red strands in her chestnut locks. She looked over her shoulder at him, wavy hair collecting at her shoulder, and vanilla wafted in the air between them. His fingers itched to twine through its silkiness.
Her eyes, normally so warm and dark, and her skin, a lovely porcelain, glowed with a softness beyond any form of humanity. A breeze unfelt by him, stirred her hair and robe-like clothing, and while he remained rooted and untouched by it, she appeared to drift ever so slightly. Her beauty not only remained, it surpassed his memory. She was, for a lack of a better word—ethereal—and Jareth's chest squeezed until his breath hitched. Hours, days, an eternity with her would never quench his desire.
She stared at him, looking through him with an expression so passive, so peaceful he wondered if this could truly be his Sarah. Where was her passion? Her fire? Had this place doused the very coals that made her Sarah? Had his error smothered the very flames of her personality along with her life? Or perhaps a glamour of Sarah floated before him, taunting him with shades of his guilt.
She blinked, slowly, as if she moved underwater, and then turned away. Her hair shifting in that enigmatic breeze. Some force drew her away, gradually widening the distance between them until she became no more than the air.
"No!" Jareth's already painful chest tightened to near unbearable levels—to travel this far, to see her and lose her again, even if she were merely a wraith. His mind shivered at its edges, threatening to unravel that which he so recently stitched together.
"Sarah!" Again, he reached for her, unable to shift more than his arm, and grasped nothing but a fistful of damnable wildflowers. Never in his interminable life had he hated flora so much as this instant. "Gods above!" His hand enclosed the flowers until his fist shook, pouring every ounce of his pain and impotent frustration into the strength of his grip.
What he wouldn't do, what he wouldn't bargain to reset everything to before Tobias' wish to erase his folly. His selfishness and desire achieved this horrific end. If only he'd been more patient, more cautious. By the gods, she was mortal! So fragile compared to him, yet repeatedly he forgot and dealt with her as if her body equaled the strength of her will. Foolish, stupid fae! If only he truly did control time throughout the universe, rather than in his paltry Labyrinth.
He was king of nothing.
Crushed petals and stems released their death with pungent fragrance, accusing him from the stained palm of his glove. Releasing his stranglehold on the hapless victims, he watched as the same unfelt wind spirited their remains away along with his heart. A hollow burrowed into his chest, surrounding the bottomless pain. Without love, without Sarah, he was nothing.
Silver light assaulted his eyes followed by the same accursed meadow trapping them. Were they never to leave this place, never to find her? The hollow pain in his chest blossomed, spreading to his limbs until it seared him into numbness. Fearing that was the closest he'd ever come to reaching her soul, he rolled to his side, clutched his chest with chilled, clawed fingers and sobbed. "Sarah, I'm sorry."
A gentle hand touched his shoulder. "Jareth?"
"Ah!" He jerked away from Tobias' touch. And now he'd doomed her brother as well. You've made a right mess of things, haven't you, old man?
"Jareth? What's wrong?"
Jareth wiped his face, using every ounce of Court training he possessed to feign composure before facing him. "Merely taking stock of our circumstances."
Tobias scanned their prison with an expression of wisdom far surpassing his tender years, then took a deep breath. "I dreamed of Sarah."
With a start, Jareth finally met his eyes, noticing they were bloodshot and watery. "Did you?"
Tobias nodded slowly, as if each movement might cause his head to detach and tumble away. Given their misadventure, that very occurrence wouldn't shock Jareth in the least.
"Did she," Jareth hesitated, unsure if he truly wanted to know, "say anything?"
Tobias frowned. "Not exactly."
"Ah." Disappointment filtered into his voice despite his effort to mask it.
"But…" He bit his lower lip and pulled at the wildflowers clustered at his knees.
"Go on."
"I got the feeling that she, um, forgives you."
"Forgives me?" Jareth barely managed to choke the words past his lips. She forgave him? Forgiveness was a concept not only unknown to fae, but utterly foreign. Exchanging apologies was common enough to keep tempers at bay, generally considered a casual politeness much like thank you and please.
Fae, being long-lived, temperamental creatures, required strict Court etiquette in the avoidance of honor duels and bloody wars. In fact, a gauntlet thrown due to an insult of honor between two hot-headed nobles instigated the last century-long Fae war. Two thousand years past and still many families struggled to replace their youngest, most vibrant members. The High King took future threat of internal war quite serious.
During times of grief, Fae freely expressed condolences since natural death rarely visited, and Fae measured fertility by multiple centuries. Danu blessed a couple birthing one healthy child in a thousand years. Therefore, losing any member of their race, no matter their disposition, was considered a great loss. To withhold such sympathy to a family was to give a terrible insult, and a potential reason for a duel, hence a serious breach of etiquette.
But forgiveness? Jareth's brows furrowed. Danu, mother of all Fae, taught nothing of forgiveness. That was a concept for the metaphysical and believers of religion. He was neither.
And yet, here he perched in the center of an unfathomable meadow within an infinite bubble that blocked his strongest magic. He cupped his chin, one finger touching his lips. Perhaps the time for reassessment had arrived.
"Forgiveness, you say?"
"Yeah." Tobias' mouth curled in a half frown, displaying his conflicting emotions.
"And how what do you say on the matter?"
Staring at the ground, Tobias shrugged as he ripped flowers from their beds and shredded them.
Jareth placed one hand over his, ceasing his rampant destruction, and stated, "Surely you have some opinion."
"I," Tobias's eyes met his, "I know you didn't mean to hurt her…"
"Yet?"
"I don't understand." Tobias' lips quivered, and his eyes brimmed with clinging tears. "What happened?"
How to explain such a complex event? An urge to shelter Tobias from the truth tempted Jareth. It tantalized him, shining as a gem might to Hoggle. So simple to pluck and place in his young friend's hand, so difficult to continue pretending.
Grasping Tobias' hands carefully in both of his, Jareth deliberately maintained eye contact while he spoke. His young friend deserved nothing less than absolute honesty. "Tobias, I want you to know that I love you and Sarah very much."
Tobias sniffed, his hands squeezing Jareth's. "I love you, too."
"And, sometimes, when two adults love each other like your parents did, they become very close physically."
An expression of serious concentration came over Tobias. "Okay."
"We, that is," Jareth took a deep breath, "I was careless. I pursued that physical connection with Sarah too soon, before my magic fully healed."
"But why is that-?"
"I made a terrible mistake, Tobias." Jareth blinked several times, forcing his emotions down.
"At the hospital, I heard people saying bad things about you. They said maybe you … did things to Sarah, things she didn't want."
Shaking his head so hard his glittery hair flung about, Jareth said, "They're wrong. Sarah and I agreed to everything we did. I would never force her or you to do anything you didn't want to do."
"But she's still hurt."
"Because at the wrong time, my magic fully returned and I was," Jareth hunted for the right word, "distracted, and did not protect her as I should have. The full force of my magic burned her mind, separating it from her body."
"Oh." Tobias sat very still and quiet, dropping his chin to his chest as he contemplated. He didn't release Jareth's hands, but he didn't respond while he absorbed this revelation.
Jareth waited, fearful of moving the smallest muscle lest he break this strange spell. Having lost Sarah, he knew Tobias' love and trust teetered, and he must wait for his friend to reach a conclusion free of any influence from him.
Finally, finally, Tobias shifted, raising his face to Jareth and tightened his grip on his hands. His tone quite serious, as if the fate of eternity rested on his words, Tobias said, "I forgive you, Jareth."
The weight on Jareth chest—one he now realized began seconds after he harmed Sarah and worsened every step of their journey—eased somewhat.
They shared tentative smiles, and Tobias climbed onto Jareth's lap, wrapping his arms around his torso in a hug so warm a short sob escaped Jareth. His Goblin King status was well and truly tattered in front of Tobias now, and he cared naught to salvage it.
"Thank you, my boy." Jareth kissed the crown of Tobias' head as he snuggled him close to his chest. "You're quite generous."
"I know you'd never hurt Sarah on purpose, and I wanted to forgive you."
After several minutes of peaceful comfort, Jareth looked at the invariable meadow again and wondered what, if anything, he might do to change their fate. He had to have overlooked some detail, some aspect to solve this riddle and at least return them home if Sarah's soul was beyond reach.
And then out of the mouth of a babe did clarity appear…
"You know, Jareth," Tobias said, looking up at him, "Sarah wants you to forgive yourself, too."
Dry-mouthed, Jareth's chest tightened again. Forgive himself? Was that even possible? Should they leave this place without Sarah, could he trudge through another thousand years accepting what he'd done to her? It would be as if he'd given up, and Jareth, the Goblin King, never gave up! Letting go of that pain without surety of success, it'd be easier to slice his arms open and bleed his royal blood upon these blasted wildflowers. It would be easier to…
"Oh, dear gods," he whispered. The Wiseman's cryptic words rushed back to him "Sometimes what seems like the easiest decision is actually the hardest. Sometimes the path to life requires one to let go of control."
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Thank you again for reading and please leave a donation in the review box! I love hearing from all my readers, even if it's just a hey! Love! Take care! J
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Oh, Now Why the Concern?